We’ve had an eventful few months, but not on the boat, hence my lack of blogging. July 31st my kneecap locked, as I was reclining in bed, which is not very conducive to boat life, as I was unable to walk for a week and have only recently managed to increase my mobility to almost normal. Hopping on and off boats requires some dexterity so it’s a little unnerving when your body fails you! I blame it on a ski accident over twenty years ago and lack of strengthening exercises this year as I concentrated on emptying our house of clutter, ready to sell it. The good news is that the house has sold and we are currently residing in a retirement flat bought for my mum. It’s small but not as small as the boat, so going on the boat makes us appreciate how big the retirement flat is!! The house sale took longer than expected so the boat waited patiently in the background, which also gave my knee time to heal. The first time we took her out for an overnight jolly she broke down! Fortunately for us, Colin our wonderful engineer who has fixed our steering issues, immediately came to our rescue, diagnosed the problem and had us up and running a few hours later. Very kind of him since we were at Weybridge nowhere near to his base at Farncombe! An electric pump, needed to pump the diesel around the engine, had stopped working. I didn’t even know such a pump existed – I do now!
This past weekend we attended the Boaters Christian Fellowship annual get together in the Midlands, which was great fun, spiritually uplifting and gave us the opportunity to meet with other boaters on the waterways who are doing various Christian ministries all around the canal network, such as homemade soup runs. One lady arrived with a stash of wool and size 4 knitting needles and had those of us who could knit, knitting small squares which she then joined together to make a blanket to give to someone who needed it. I think we are going to get an ‘A’ frame to go on the towpath when we moor up, which will say that we have TIME to LISTEN and CHAT. Coupled with a cup of tea and biscuits (may even stretch to cake!) we hope to encourage passers-by to tell us their stories. So often people don’t feel heard anymore. Life just seems too busy. Richard remarks that what he likes about our boating adventure is waking up and thinking ‘I wonder who I will meet today’ rather than ‘what have I got to do today’. When I first met him he loved to sit in pubs listening to the older generation tell him stories. This is not so different (except the age gap is narrowing!).
It’s been a long day. Arriving on the boat with far too much food to fit in the cupboards, too many clothes for the drawers and other paraphernalia that now needs to be squirreled away, we then only had three locks ahead of us. At the first one there were two ladies in kayaks, enjoying a paddle on the water as part of their spa day at a local hotel. One of them however was in the water, which I found a bit surprising. Unfortunately she had capsized and was now looking for her mobile phone! We supplied a magnet to help with the task but alas the phone is no more. What a sad way to end what should have been a relaxing day. At least the weather has been kind so she wasn’t too cold.
I discovered a plastic box on our stern deck, containing wellies and a box of plastic gloves, all swimming in rain water. I tried to dry the gloves out!
So our plan was to leave the River Wey, travel along the Thames towards its source at Lechlade, returning to Reading to moor up on the K&A for the winter. All this is now in disarray, as from last night, when we were told Chertsey lock is closed and may be for the next six months! That means we can’t get on the K&A without going via the Grand Union Canal and the Oxford canal, a journey of far too many hours if we want to be in Reading within five weeks. I think what this way of life is teaching me more than anything else, is that I am not in control! Boat issues, river floods or water shortages, lock damage, weed overgrowth, all these things hamper ones plans, so it’s best not to have any fixed agenda and just go where you can, without worrying about a time schedule! The things that do worry me are where am I going to get water and is there a toilet pump out en route, a food shop and a laundrette. All the basic necessities. But it is an adventure and I’m pleased to be embarking on it with my long suffering husband, even though we now have no idea where we are going!
NarrowboatTLC 